First of let me say...Let those who ride decide! Ok with that said, I am a Regional Safety Adminstrator for my professional career and at our company, hard hats are mandatory on all construction sites and I have to enforce that policy as well as follow it to, so I also wear one while at work! However, IL. is a state where it is my choice and I choose not to wear one. Beth and I are members and supporters of A.B.A.T.E. we support the choice to wear it or not. It's that we never wear one, both Beth and I have "skid lids" and we only wear them in states that have helmet laws. Or as is the case with the Riley Hospital for Children "Miracle Ride" This is a two-day event in Indianapolis, IN. On the 2nd day of the event, it is mandatory you wear your helmet if you are going to go on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The owners of the track have made it a requirement!

Hello everyone, a little new in this forum (as in my first post), but I feel compelled to chime in on this one:

• A couple years ago, I saw someone end up with a tank slapper because someone made a left and "didn't see him."
• Last year, I high sided avoiding another car that came into my lane (other alternative was oncoming traffic on 202).
• Just today, during a poker run in MD, there was an accident that ended up with one rider DOA and another medivac'd out. http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/13002

For me, there is too much riding on me keeping my brain and face intact. There are too many people out there that have there minds on things other than driving for me not to wear my lid (full face) 100% of the time. I applaud to have freedom of choice. My choice is to wear protection, Head-to-toe.

 

arkansas is helmet free so i don't wear one here unless the weather gets nasty or on long trips out of state i think the helmet issue should be a persons choice and not forced to wear one by law

No I dont wear a helmet ,Right now Im in the state of Ga and have too wear one .

If you are 21 or over in FL you do not have to wear a helmet, and I am happy we are open minded enough to allow the riders to make that decision. I wear a helmet EVERY TIME I ride, but that is my decision.

what's a helmet?just kidding!I couldn't have said it any better than REXTHEROADDOG!!! Right on my brother!

I never wore one until I went on 2 week vacation and while I was away (bike trip) my daughter was killed in a car accident...she was brain dead....I never want to have to put my husband thru all the decisions that I had to make with her.

lids save lives .FACT

UR ALL MAD .THEIRS BEEN ABOUT 5 BIKE CRASH'S IN THE LAST 2 WEEK'S IN ABERDEEN ALONE .GET UR LID'S ON GUY'S ,NOT WORTH THE RISK .

On May 1st I was at a cookout with friends. The boyfriend of a girl I know asked me to try out my bike. He has a motorcycle license and he owns and rides a Harley. He hadn't ridden my kind of bike before and wanted to try it. I said sure and asked my son to give him his helmet. The guy waved it off, we were in a closed community and the roads were wide with little to no traffic. There was a part of me that wanted to tell him I'd feel better if he put it on, but he was an adult and a rider, I figured he could make his own decision. He wobbled the bike going out of the driveway which made me question saying yes, but I figured it was a different kind of bike than he was used to and once he got going he'd stabilize. He looped around went by the house and was on his way back by in second gear but he crashed. He was knocked unconcious, I ran to him along with my son and his friend. His motionless body lay face down beside a puddle of blood. I thought he was dead as I called 911. My 17 year old son ripped off his shirt to put pressure on his head to stop the bleeding. In the end that man spent the night in ICU being monitored for brain damage. He received 20 staples in his head, stitches in his forehead and other injuries. Once the chaos subsided, my son began insisting that I always wear my helmet and stated that he will always wear protective gear himself. Yet again I'm reminded that its too easy for things to go wrong, and it's not just my decision, because I have a son that needs me.

Very well put. 

Maybe one good thing to come out of this is your sons insistance on wearing a helmet from now on.  I think you can be fairly certain that even if your not around, he will always wear one.

I  live in Pa and helmets aren't required but I always wear  mine. It seams to me that mosts of the riders don't wear helmets. thats both men and women

I agree with RextheRoaddog. It's a choice, I would never tell someone not to wear one, but each one of us should have the choice. Try to educate me, but never bash me for my choice. Kansas is a choice state, I chose to not wear one.

it should be law ,like it is over in scotland .

Don't know how many people are still reading this thread... Been thinking about the subject for a while now and I have come to this conclusion. Some of you will find it harsh, most of you will probably think it crazy for anyone to be so uncaring... Well, here it goes... Over half the people on this thread have said they wear helmets. I find this to be a sign that all of the education efforts (by all the motorcycle and non-motorcycle safety entities out there) are in fact succeeding in their crusade to make biking safer for "us bikers". The thing that gets me is the fact that out of about 50 "bikers" I have known personally, maybe 5 of them posses the means to pay for their own medical needs in case of a serious injury. Sure, they all have the usual insurance and they all are experienced, etc., etc., but, they do have the means it would take to face the financial burden of a catastrophic injury and all of the medical expenses- on their own. The other 45 of my "biker" friends, do not. Once the insurance coverage is exceeded, the credit cards have been topped off, the house/car/bikes have been mortgaged or sold... After there is no more money, the rest of us end up having to pay for the luxury of them getting into an accident while not wearing a helmet. An accident, that in all probability, would have been nothing more than a major loss of skin or a few broken bones, had they been wearing a helmet. Try to take the helmets away from the Marines and soldiers in Afghanistan/Iraq under the pretense that it is uncool to wear a helmet. I wouldn't dare... If I had my way, I would make helmets mandatory, for all recreational vehicle drivers and passengers (maybe some water craft too), those that got in an accident while wearing the protective gear would be allowed to receive medical attention beyond their means (insurance, personal wealth, etc.). The ones that chose not to wear helmets, I would have them state that they would not hold society responsible for their choice. That once they were involved in an accident (statistics have it, that if we ride, we will all be involved in at least one accident), and their personal means had been exceeded the "Stupidity Cause Clause" would be actuated. Plug pulled, remains turned over to the medical researchers for study in an attempt to determine what caused that particular "biker" to not wear that helmet which might have saved his ass... It is all about economics to me. It kills me to see my sister and brother in law ride with their helmets strapped to the back of their bikes... When we stopped by Sturgis (our first and hopefully last time), out of all the thousands of people there, my wife and I were the only ones wearing a helmet. We saw thousands of people with helmets but, 99.9 percent of them had their helmets tied to the back of the bikes. How crazy is that?
I guess it is wonderful for all the hard biker wannabes' to have a choice on wearing a helmet or not... I wish, though, they would also have the balls to take the responsibility for their choice when they have their turn at the eventual accident. Why should I, or anyone for that matter, have to bear the expense of "THEIR CHOICE"?
Am I wrong to think this way? Am I going to hell because of it? I just don't know what comes over me sometimes... BE SAFE, BE KIND...

Our health system is so overwhelmed due to having to provide care to those that cannot afford to pay insurance, etc., etc., why should we burden it further providing health care to those that did not care to be prudent. I propose those that choose not to wear a helmet, perform a very simple, inexpensive (yet highly scientific) experiment. Get out on the road somewhere (by whatever means that has the ability to go at least 10 mph), preferably black top, and gently release a small (preferably round) watermelon from a height of about 4 feet. It's a no brainer, the melon suffers...

Not sure I can follow that one but here goes.I wear a lid on sunny days,I'm bald and too lazy to put sunscreen on the ole cue ball.

I gotta agree whole heartedly with Rex....It is the right to make decisions on our own! Enjoy that right because the way things are going we won't have it for long.......
I also choose not to wear a helmet and am glad to have the right...again a major reason I joined A.B.A.T.E. and suggest that all bikers should join to support our freedoms as motorcycle enthusiasts.

I always wear a helmet... I value my head and Life too much to risk a probable "life-altering" head injury in the event of a fall (crash) at any speed.

I've seen some pretty ugly wrecks and helmets just seem to make sense (at least to me)... but it should always be the Rider's choice.. not some stupid law!

I always wear a helmet.  I just don't feel right without one.

I do NOT wear a helmet unless I have to. Most times, that means getting pulled over out-of-state for not wearing one. It's my life and I'll do what I want. Gov't safety-nannies and do-gooders can run someone else's life. I got a motorcycle endorsement and I have insurance. Been in 3 bad wrecks over my life and NEVER had a helmet on in any of them. NEVER hit my head. U want to wear a helmet fine. Tell me to wear one and we're gonna have a problem...

I wear a helmet most of the time.  It just feels better and safer.  Totally believe in freedom and everyone has the right to do what they want as long as it does not hurt anyone else.  Wear seatbelts or don't, wear helmets or don't but we all have to agree that it is safer with seat belts and helmets.   BUT the Gov't has no right to tell me or anyone what to do in this regard.  I love the debate item that it costs the Govt (the tax payer!) all this money without these laws... if that was the actual case... then my only question is --- When they pass a seat belt and/or helmet law - Where is my Tax REBATE!  They are SAVING ALL THIS MONEY!!!  Yeah, you guessed it.  The debate item is nothing but bull.... we all know it.  I ride with a helmet .. it feels safer... but its a choice. 

 I wear a helmet, but beleave its your choice, Sept.7.09 I was T-boned on my bike and landed on my head, after looking at my Helmet I would have been in very bad shape with a head injury. but the bruises are gone and I'm walking and riding again. I truly beleave my riding days would have been over if it wasn't for a helmet. ITS YOUR HEAD AND YOUR FUTURE, WEAR OR NOT ITS YOUR CHOICE

I tried not wearing a helmet after ABATE was passed in Florida. I think I went 3 miles when I turned around and got my helmet. Life is too short and there are way to many stupid people drivin cages! It doesn't take much effort to bust your gourd!

As a matter of fact a few years later I was run into by a hit and run idiot, when he blew a stop sign at 30 mph. He messed me up badly, 12 months in the hospital, 3 months in a coma, destroyed my lower leg, ankles, hip, rt. shoulder and broke my helmet in half. Seems after trying to keep my " brand new HD Crossbones",  bike upright. I was propelled over the handlebars and landed directly on my helmet. If it wasn't for that helmet I would have died on the scene! I always wear a helmet

I got as big a set of cojones as anyone out there, I don't run from trouble! But, I am definetly not stupid and do not go looking for it either. It's your choice obviously, but, I don't want to go to your funeral , or have to spoon feed you!  We are all brothers and sisters on the road! Please be safe out there, and I believe helmets are life savers!  Just my opinion, peace be with you!